Night vision goggles are commonly used by military personnel for conducting operations in low light or night conditions. Assemblies for mounting night vision goggles to a helmet or other headgear are well known in the art. These mounting assemblies allow a user's hands to remain free while viewing a scene through the night vision goggles.
The headgear worn by military personnel is designed for combat and is able to prevent a bullet shot from a pistol, such as a 9 mm, a 0.357 Magnum or an MP5 submachine gun, shrapnel, and other non-ballistic material from penetrating the headgear. However, when bullets, shrapnel or other material that would ordinarily be stopped and/or sufficiently contained by the headgear encounter an opening in the helmet or the mounting bracket attachment means inserted through such opening, the force of the bullet impacts the weakened structural integrity of the headgear caused by the opening. As such, the bullet or fragment may penetrate the headgear and/or the attachment means may be pushed through the headgear and potentially into the wearer's head, posing serious danger to the wearer. It is desired to have a contoured headgear bracket capable of preventing a bullet from penetrating the headgear and capable of preventing a mounting bracket attachment means from further penetrating the headgear and into a wearer's head.
Moreover, it is generally desirable to provide a means to prevent a bullet or other ammunition from penetrating an opening or other structural weakness created in headgear, thus increasing safety for the headgear wearer.